Top NATO Commander Orders Troops to Kill All Opium Dealers

BERLIN (AFP) — NATO's supreme commander has sparked a row among top brass with "guidance" for opium dealers in Afghanistan to be killed even without proof of ties to insurgents, a German magazine said Thursday.

Citing a classified document, Spiegel said that US General John Craddock has told commanders he wants troops in the 50,000-strong military alliance "to attack directly drug producers and facilities throughout Afghanistan."

It is "no longer necessary to produce intelligence or other evidence that each particular drug trafficker or narcotics facility in Afghanistan meets the criteria of being a military objective," Spiegel cited Craddock as saying.

The alliance "has decided that (drug traffickers and narcotics facilities) are inextricably linked to the Opposing Military Forces, and thus may be attacked," Spiegel said in its online edition.

The report sparked anger at NATO headquarters in Brussels, with Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer calling for an immediate inquiry into what he called an "unacceptable" leak of a confidential document.

A NATO spokesman, James Appathurai, declined to confirm the content of the directive and played down any talk of a row, saying what had been sent to military commanders was "not an order but guidance."

Spiegel said that the directive was sent on January 5 to Egon Ramms, the German leader at NATO Command in the Netherlands, which is currently in charge of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and to David McKiernan, commander of the ISAF peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.

Neither wants to follow it, Spiegel said, as they believe it is illegitimate and violates both ISAF's rules of engagement and international law.

A classified letter issued by McKiernan's Kabul office claims that Craddock is trying to create a "new category" in the rules of engagement for dealing with opposing forces.

This would "seriously undermine the commitment ISAF has made to the Afghan people and the international community... to restrain our use of force and avoid civilian casualties to the greatest degree predictable," Spiegel cited the letter as saying.

The Taliban, ousted from power seven years ago by a US-led coalition, has been reaping close to 100 million dollars (77 million euros) a year from the opium trade and using the funds to buy weapons to kill NATO troops.

Afghanistan produces around 90 percent of the world's illegal opium, much of which is turned into heroin inside the country and exported to Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia.

The bulk of Afghanistan's opium production is centred in the south of the country, which is also the heart of the Taliban insurgency.

At a meeting in Budapest in October, NATO defence ministers decided to let individual nations hunt down drug lords and laboratories, with the consent of the Afghan government -- but on a voluntary basis.

Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain had led opposition against officially diving into the drug war in earnest for the first time, believing that the Afghans themselves should drive such efforts.

Appathurai said that it was "perfectly normal that there is a discussion within the chain of military command about how this decision is implemented, including on legal issues, so that it conforms with national laws and international conventions."

His comments were echoed by Colonel Derek Crotts, chief of public affairs at NATO's military headquarters.

"No-one has asked or directed anyone to do anything illegal," he said.

"Since the Budapest ministerial NATO meeting, military leadership has been working to develop an effective engagement plan regarding ISAF counter-narcotics operations.

"At this point all the parties concerned are still at the planning stage and there has been no order issued."

The leaking of Craddock's directive may also be part of a power struggle within NATO's top brass, with the US general -- appointed by former US president George W. Bush -- reportedly fearful that he may be replaced by new President Barack Obama.

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A dispute has emerged among NATO High Command in Afghanistan regarding the conditions under which alliance troops can use deadly violence against those identified as insurgents. In a classified document, which SPIEGEL has obtained, NATO's top commander, US General John Craddock, has issued a "guidance" providing NATO troops with the authority "to attack directly drug producers and facilities throughout Afghanistan."

According to the document, deadly force is to be used even in those cases where there is no proof that suspects are actively engaged in the armed resistance against the Afghanistan government or against Western troops. It is "no longer necessary to produce intelligence or other evidence that each particular drug trafficker or narcotics facility in Afghanistan meets the criteria of being a military objective," Craddock writes.
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The NATO commander has long been frustrated by the reluctance of some NATO member states -- particularly Germany -- to take aggressive action against those involved in the drug trade. Craddock rationalizes his directive by writing that the alliance "has decided that (drug traffickers and narcotics facilities) are inextricably linked to the Opposing Military Forces, and thus may be attacked." In the document, Craddock writes that the directive is the result of an October 2008 meeting of NATO defense ministers in which it was agreed that NATO soldiers in Afghanistan may attack opium traffickers.

The directive was sent on Jan. 5 to Egon Ramms, the German leader at NATO Command in Brunssum, Netherlands, which is currently in charge of the NATO ISAF mission, as well as David McKiernan, the commander of the ISAF peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. Neither want to follow it. Both consider the order to be illegitimate and believe it violates both ISAF rules of engagement and international law, the "Law of Armed Conflict."

A classified letter issued by McKiernan's Kabul office in response claims that Craddock is trying to create a "new category" in the rules of engagement for dealing with opposing forces that would "seriously undermine the commitment ISAF has made to the Afghan people and the international community ... to restrain our use of force and avoid civilian casualties to the greatest degree predictable."

A value equivalent to 50 percent of Afghanistan's gross national product is generated through the production and trade of opium and the heroin that is derived from it. Of those earnings, at least $100 million flows each year to the Taliban and its allies, which is used to purchase weapons and pay fighters. That, at least, is the estimate given by Antonio Maria Costas, head of the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime.

But the chain of people profiting from the drug trade goes a lot further -- reaching day laborers in the fields, drug laboratory workers and going all the way up to police stations, provincial governments and high-level government circles that include some with close proximity to President Hamid Karzai. If Craddock's order were to go into effect, it would lead to the addition of thousands of Afghans to the description of so-called "legitimate military targets" and could also land them on so-called targeting lists.

The Taliban are still responsible for the majority of civilian victims in Afghanistan. According to a United Nations report, more than half of the approximately 2,000 citizens killed last year died as a result of suicide attacks, car bombs and fighting with extremists. Nevertheless, relations between the Americans and the local population are extremely tense due the rising number of US-led air strikes and the dramatic increase in the number of civilian casualties.

Afghan villagers complain of the increase in the deaths of relatives who were mistakenly killed during military operations carried out by the Americans and their allies, such as the one carried out recently in Masamut, a village in the eastern Afghan province of Laghman. The US army announced that it had "eliminated" 32 Taliban insurgents. However, survivors claim that 13 civilians had been killed during the search for a Taliban commander. In the eyes of many Afghans the former liberators have long become ruthless occupiers.

German NATO General Ramms made it perfectly clear in his answer to General Craddock that he was not prepared to deviate from the current rules of engagement for attacks, which reportedly deeply angered Craddock. The US general, who is considered a loyal Bush man and fears that he could be replaced by the new US president, has already made his intention known internally that he would like to relieve any commander who doesn't want to follow his instructions to go after the drug mafia of his duties. Back in December, Central Command in Florida, which is responsible for the US Armed Forces deployment in Afghanistan, yet again watered-down provisions in the rules of engagement for the Afghanistan deployment pertaining to the protection of civilians. According to the new rules, US forces can now bomb drug labs if they have previous analysis that the operation would not kill "more than 10 civilians."

we all know Taliban was first to make opium illegal and usa (cia) supported drug lords so the would fight against Taliban and Iran border guards. also picture changed there after cia instructed Afghans how they can make efficient way heroin